Kossuth on State

Project Description

The Third General Assembly of the Iowa Legislature established Kossuth County, Iowa, on January 15, 1851. Kossuth County was named in honor of Lajos (Louis) Kossuth, the Hungarian Patriot and Statesman who had dedicated his life to freedom and liberty for his country. Kossuth’s exploits to free his country in 1848-1849 stirred the emotions of the people of the United States and his struggle for freedom was the reason that the Iowa Legislature felt that it would be fitting to name a newly created county in his honor. Kossuth County, Iowa, has the distinction of being the only county in the United States named Kossuth.

In the early months of 1999, Kossuth County Courthouse Department Heads met with the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors to discuss plans to commemorate the upcoming 150th anniversary of the establishment of Kossuth County. In September of 1999, the department heads once again met with the board of supervisors to discuss ideas for the 150th anniversary celebration. It was decided at that time that a volunteer committee should be formed and that they should work with the Kossuth County Historical Society to develop a project for the 150th anniversary celebration.

A call for volunteers was made at that time and the 150th Anniversary Committee was formed. After just a few meetings, the committee decided that a life-size bronze statue of Lajos Kossuth, placed in front of the courthouse, would be the ideal project that would satisfy the goals that had been established by the committee. It was envisioned that the statue would be placed on a granite base and would be surrounded by a patio area composed of engraved bricks and granite pavers, which would be sold to fund the project.

The committee decided that the patio area directly in front of the statue would be laid out in the shape of a map of Kossuth County. Each township would be clearly defined with its township name on a granite paver located in the center of the township and each town in the county would be clearly marked in its correct location on the map with a granite paver inscribed with the name of the town and the date the town was established. There would also be an area surrounding the statue with spaces for larger engraved granite pavers as well as bricks and smaller granite pavers. The idea of the map layout was to allow people, families, business, organizations, etc. to purchase engraved bricks or pavers and have them placed within the township near the location of their farms or near the town where they lived. This would give everyone an opportunity to be a part of the project and it would truly be a countywide project.

The committee then contacted local award winning artist, Wayne Thompson of rural Swea City, Iowa, to see if he would be interested in creating a bronze statue of Lajos Kossuth.Mr. Thompson was very receptive to the idea and told the committee that he would be most willing to create the statue.

On December 7, 1999 the 150th Anniversary Committee once again met with the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors to present the proposed historic statue project to the board and to request initial start up funding. The board of supervisors gave their enthusiastic support to the project and voted to grant the startup funding. With the favorable support and encouragement given by the board of supervisors, the committee was able to move the project forward and begin the fund raising that would be required. 

After the December 7th meeting the committee commissioned Wayne Thompson to create the statue of Kossuth. It was at that time that “Kossuth on State” was chosen to be the name of the project. This name was chosen to symbolize the statue of Lajos Kossuth, located in front of the courthouse, facing State Street. Hence the name “ Kossuth on State”.

The committee immediately applied for various grant programs and was successful in obtaining a grant in the amount of $7800 from the Iowa Arts Council and $5000 from the Haggard - Twogood Charitable Trust, which along with the funds received from the Board of Supervisors got the project off to a running start. The early support from all of the towns and townships in the county was also very important in assuring the success of the project.

After more than two years of dedicated work by the committee members, the statue and patio area have been completed and they are now ready for their dedication. The 150th Anniversary Committee wants to extend our thanks to all who were involved with the project in any way and a special thanks to all of the special people who supported the project with their generous donations of time and money and most importantly - Thank You for attending today’s dedication ceremony!

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